The Pink Glow of Camelot
by Dark Side's Cookies
Summary: Mondern retelling of the immortal Camelot. Tony Stark is King Arthur. His wife, Lady Guinevere, is Pepper Potts. And the king's best friend and most trusted knight Lancelot is Steve Rogers. No superpowers. Tony and Steve will be the ones committing the adulterous act, but how will it end? Don't Like. Don't Read. Don't Flame. Read and Review!


The king sat along the bank of the river, staring at the water as it trickled by. This was not how he expected his life to be. Not in the least. He wanted so much more out of his life than to be the king of his country, but here he was, ruling over a land that he hadn't asked for. But who can argue with fate when you are the one who pulls a sword from a stone that no one else can.

The legend held that who so pulleth this sword from the stone is rightwise born king of all the land. Anthony had never put stock in that myth until he had been the one to withdraw the stone, it had however been a sword in a rock after all. He accepted his destiny and ascended to the throne. But now, today he was to meet his bride. It was not something he was looking forward to, even more than he wasn't looking forward to his coronation a few years back.

A king should have a queen, and therefore he was betrothed to one of the Lord's of the land's daughters. Her name was Virginia. He had never met the woman, but she was to become his wife today. Tossing a stone into the lake, Tony wished there was a way out of this union, but he knew there was not. He may not have wanted to be king when it happened, but he had to be the best king there was, and he was.

He heard the hum of the motor cavalcade coming up the road down the way. That was her. He knew it. Sighing, he resigned to the duty he kne he had to fulfill. The country needed a queen. He would not deny them that.

The car in front got a flat tire and instatnly pulled to the side, the rest of the vehicles following suit. A few men came to the car and proceeded to change the tire. An auburn haired woman slipped out of the backseat of one of the cars, slipping into the trees lining the roadside, coming toward him. Tony stood from the rock he was sitting on the riverbank and retreated behind a tree as his unexpected visitor came to the river.

Dropping to her knees, the younger woman sighed softly, looking into the water. Her hands were clasped in her lap and she looked as though she was praying. Tony leaned against the tree, something about her striking him quite oddly. The branch he was leaning against, snapped and he fell forward onto the ground, unable to keep his laughter at his blunder. The lady beside the lake stood again, retreating back into the trees.

"Wait, m'lady! Do not go!"

The redhead slowly looked back around the tree she was hiding behind, regarding the stranger carefully. "Who are you?"

Tony stood, brushing off his pants and slowly turning his head up to the lady. "Who am I?" Tony thought for a moment. "Stark. I am called Stark."

The lady stepped down onto the riverbank once more. "Stark? Whatever kind of name is Stark?"

"A nickname. My mentor gave it to me when I was young."

The woman regarded him carefully, shaking her head and moving closer. "And do you know who I am, sir?"

Tony smirked at her, bowing his head to her. "Of course, who has not heard of Lady Virgina? Your beauty and grace are known the land over."

Virginia gave a laugh. "If you knew me at all, you would know none of that is true, sir. I am called Pepper by those who truly know me."

"Pepper," Tony greeted her, taking her hand and kissing it softly. Looking up at her, he smiled. "What are you doing out here?"

"Hoping to run away."

Tony's eye's raised, intrigued. "Run away? What from?"

Pepper crossed her arms over her chest. "I am getting married today."

"Oh? Aren't brides usually happy on their wedding day?"

Pepper shrugged. "I suppose. But usually that requires that you love the man you're marrying, doesn't it?"

Tony wasn't so sure he agreed with that, but he wasn't about to go off on his views on love and marriage with her, especially since she was the woman he was marrying today. "I suppose. Then you admit you do not love your fiance?"

"Oh, no! How can I love him if I've never met him?"

Tony had to admit it was an archaic ritual, but it was the custom of the land, even after all the years of modernism and men marrying men. Alright, so Tony had had a hand in that somehow, even if he hadn't said out loud that he had supported it. He had still agreed to its legalization. But marriages were still arranged in this time as well, and it wasn't until this moment that he wished he would have done something about that ridiculous notion.

"Would you like to come with me?" Pepper asked when Stark hadn't said a word.

Eyes widening, Tony shook his head. "Come." Taking her by the hand, he pulled her a few yards down the riverbank to where a clearing in the trees led way toward a castle off in the short distance. "See that?"

Pepper looked over at him. "Camelot?"

"Yes!" If there was one thing in this world Tony loved more than anything in this world, it was his precious Camelot. "There is no place in the world like Camelot. I could never run away from this place."

Pepper had never heard anyone speak so lovingly, so warmly about the place they lived. Yes, people liked where they lived, but she'd never heard a person so passionate about their home. "What about the king?"

Tony stifled a laugh. "What about him?"

"People say he's a lunatic."

Tony couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, do they?" He'd never heard that. The people throughout the land loved him, he knew it. Not just from the respect and reverence they treated him with, but from how he heard people talking about him when he knew they weren't listening.

"Well," Pepper retracted slightly. "I always believed his is off his rocker."

"And why is that?"

They two of them were a breath away from each other. Pepper looked up into the dark eyes in the twilight of the evening. She had never been this close to a stranger before. She was intrigued by him, and she didn't know why. Their lips were about to meet when -

"Lady Virginia! Virginia!"

Pepper gripped onto Tony's shoulders and pulled him behind a tree. "Oh, no!" She looked around for a place for them to escape. "You need to go!" She wanted to go with him too, but she was used to evading her servants and knew that they always caught up to her sooner rather than later.

Tony found himself about ready to bust up laughing. She was sure they were going to run him through, not that they really did those things anymore, but the metaphor remained true. He found it deliciously marvelous that she had no clue who he was, that he was the man she was supposed to be marrying, and here she was trying to save his life because they would think this _vagabond_ had stolen her away from the cavalcade.

"It's the king!" the servants said as they got closer.

Pepper's head began to dart around, looking for the monarch's arrival. Now they would both probably be hanged. She may not have wanted to marry the pompous ass, but she didn't want to betray him. Not that she had betrayed him, but the way this had to look to onlookers, it would be assumed.

They all bowed to their knees around the two of them and Pepper's eyes widened, looking around. She and Stark were the only two left standing. She focused in on him, realization dawning on her senses. She felt like a fool.

"The Lady is fine. I will see her back in a moment," Tony ordered and the servants shuffled to their feet and back off the way they came.

Pepper narrowed her eyes in on him. "You should have made your status known."

Tony's eyes widened. Now knowing he was the king, the fire of her eyes made her hair look even redder. "You should be getting back to your procession, m'lady."

Her eyes glared on him more before softening. Perhaps she was wrong about the king after all. Her initial impression of him had changed the way she looked him. Giving him a smile, she nodded her head. "Of course, my liege." Turning, she walked back through the trees, glancing only back slightly to find the king was nowhere in sight. For once since she was told she was to marry Anthony of Camelot, she was actually looking forward to it.


End file.
